


Red Hood and Sparrow

by tstansetis



Series: Red Hood and Sparrow verse [1]
Category: DCU, DCU - Comicverse
Genre: AU, DCU AU - Freeform, On Indefinite Hiatus
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-06-03
Updated: 2014-02-20
Packaged: 2017-12-13 20:53:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/828751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tstansetis/pseuds/tstansetis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He supposed he just couldn’t believe that Bruce had actually taken in another Robin, after what happened to him…he clenched his teeth, hands shaking in anger. It had almost happened again, another kid had almost died under Bruce’s watch, and where was the big bad Bat himself? Nowhere to be found</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Robin and the Red Hood

**Author's Note:**

> The start of an AU that myself and a friend have been working on for a long time. It takes place in a universe similar to the Young Justice universe, but Jason Todd was the first Robin instead of Dick Grayson.

His chest heaved, his heart raced, his mind spun as he slumped against the metal wall, sliding down until he felt the solid ground under him. His head lolled to the side, thick, dark hair matted with sticky red, tangled in clumps of blood from some gash he couldn’t assess without help.

No one was here to help him this time. A soft groan escaped his pale lips as he tried to lift his arm, mumbling to himself about calling Batman, because he knew he wasn’t in any condition to use the cycle.

Static greeted him when he activated his comlink. He cursed under his breath, letting his arm drop back to his side, the leather on his gloves scraping against the concrete beneath him. The adhesive holding his domino mask to his face was beginning to itch and peel, so he reached up and tore the fabric from his eyes, gritting his teeth. What was he supposed to do now?

He let out a puff of breath and began checking himself over, baby blue eyes lidded heavily as his fingers traced over the throbbing wound on his leg. He winced, a sharp jolt of pain surging through his body at the contact.

“Shit…” he breathed the word, barely a whisper. He managed to move his head enough to look, though the instant he did, he regretted it, nausea bubbling up, his stomach churning. A shard of glass from one of the windows he’d been thrown through was lodged firmly into his thigh, nearly as thick and wide as his forearm and long as the tip of his middle finger to his wrist. Only a small bit was sticking out of the skin, and he knew the wound must be deep due to the growing puddle of blood he was now sitting in.

He tried the comlink again, groaning at the static, wishing that he’d listened, that he hadn’t gone off by himself, that Batman were there and that he hadn’t let his guard down…

But wishing wasn’t going to fix this. He was going to have to think of something, and fast.

Heavy footfalls made his head snap up, a reflex that, at that moment, he really didn’t want to have. He winced, black pervading the edges of his vision.

He used one hand to hold the wound in his leg, pulling himself with his other arm, a soft whimper of pain leaving his lips. He had to get behind something, fast, before those drug dealers found him again…

Gunshots made him flinch, certain he was going to feel lead ripping through his chest.

A beat passed. Then two. He was still breathing.

Cautiously, he looked up again, breathing shallow, body trembling. Someone was walking toward him – someone with guns, wearing a mask.

He clenched his teeth. No way was he going down crawling away from his attacker. Limbs shaking, Robin tried to pull himself to his feet. A cry of pain was ripped from his throat when he put his weight on his injured leg, and suddenly, strong hands steadied him, keeping him from falling. He looked up, feeling naked in front of this masked, gun-wielding stranger without his domino mask on.

As if the man could sense his discomfort, he carefully set Dick down, and then released the clasps on the mask/helmet that concealed his face. Dark hair fell over the tops of his ears, a smug smile on his pale face.

“So, Bats got a new bird, huh?” his voice was smooth, with a twinge of danger that made Dick swallow thickly, “pretty cute.” The man knelt before him, grabbing his leg none-too-gently, causing him to yelp in surprise and pain as rough, leather-clad fingers traced the glass. “And of course, he’s not here to clean up his own mess. Looks like I’m stuck with you.” He rolled his eyes, “Fuckin’ figures.”

Dick opened his mouth, wanting to ask questions, but the man lifted him into his arms before a single syllable could be uttered, replacing his once-eloquent and planned out sentence with an undignified squeak.

When the boy caught his breath, he looked up at his dark-haired savior, tilting his head, even as his vision faded.

“Wh-who are you?” his speech was slurred, eyelids heavy.

“Stay with me kid.”

“T-tell me your name…”

The man sighed, shaking his head. He was silent for a moment, and Dick could feel himself losing consciousness by the time he heard the man’s voice again.

“Jason. My name’s Jason.”

~~~

Jason sighed, running a hand through his hair. He hadn’t intended on saving the kid. He really hadn’t. But something had gotten him. He didn’t know if it was the boy’s determination to go down fighting, or the hopeful look in his eyes when he realized that Jason wasn’t there to hurt him, but whatever it was had landed him with an unwanted houseguest whose head was currently in his lap.

He didn’t know why he’d decided to take the kid back to his apartment. It was a stupid move – Batman probably had a bazillion trackers on Robin’s suit – but it was too late to do anything about it at this point. The baby bird was lying on his couch, passed out in his underwear and one of Jason’s t-shirts, with fifteen stitches in his leg. He had patched up most of the kid’s more serious injuries. He had a wet wash rag pressed to the bleeding area on Robin’s head – he’d never been great with head injuries, and he especially didn’t want to deal with it until the kid was conscious, could tell him where it actually hurt. Because it seemed like it was bleeding…well…everywhere.

The Red Hood rested his arm on the couch, fist supporting his chin as he took in the teenager’s appearance. Dark, thick hair, peaches-and-cream skin with a slightly bronzed tone…the kid wasn’t bad looking. Romani, maybe? He was tiny, limbs thin and long and a small torso, obviously more built for acrobatics than fist fighting. But from what he’d seen before the kid got thrown through the plate-glass window, he wasn’t bad at the latter, either.

He could see why Bruce picked him. Agile, intelligent, determined…he had all the qualities that Jason had had as Robin plus ten.

Jason’s brow furrowed a bit at the sudden stab of bitterness he felt toward the new Robin. It wasn’t his fault; obviously, if he’d known that there’d been a Robin before him he would have recognized Jason straightaway. He supposed that it was some sentimental bullshit leftover from his brief time with Bruce.

As if he needed that right now.

He knew who the kid was, of course. Knowing that Bruce Wayne was Batman made it pretty easy, once he’d done just a little digging. Richard Grayson, an ex-circus performer, orphaned at the age of nine when his parents had an unfortunate “accident” on the trapeze.

From what Jason understood, the kid almost died with them. He’d been about to take that leap.

He wondered if it was a blessing or a curse for Dickie that he hadn’t.

Jason’s attention snapped back into the here and now as Dick stirred in his lap, a soft groan bubbling from his slightly-parted lips. Dark, full lashes fluttered open slowly, and brilliant blue stunned Jason for a moment before he shook it off and gave the kid an awkward smile.

“Welcome back, sleeping beauty.”

Dick blinked, trying to clear his vision. He started to sit up, to look around and figure out where he was, but Jason put a hand on his chest to keep him down.

“No way, kid, you took a pretty nasty blow to the head,” Jason shook his head, “you’re staying right here until we figure out how bad it was.”

The boy’s brow furrowed slightly, tongue darting out to wet his lips.

“Where am I?” his voice was slightly hoarse, “who are you?”

“Well hello to you, too.”

“…hi, how ya doin, how’s the family, we should get lunch sometime.” Dick gave him a slight smirk, “now will you tell me where I am?”

Jason laughed – he couldn’t help it. Even in such a weird state, this kid was sassy as hell.

“Downtown Gotham. Y’know, run down, rat infested hellhole? Probably not the five-star rooms you’re used to.”

“Eh, no big deal. I’ll live without the cushy pillows. But room service better still be included.”

The older man smirked a bit, “We’ll see.”

“I’ll take it.”

Jason put his hand on the boy’s forehead, feeling for a fever. Pretty normal, if not a little warm. Nothing to be worried about.

“How’re you feelin’, kid?”

Dick yawned, rubbing one eye, wincing a bit with the movement, “tired…sore…”

“That’s pretty normal after, y’know, being thrown through a plate-glass window,” Jason agreed, smirking a bit, “lightheaded? Dizzy? Nauseous?” He shook his head, and Jason nodded, “good. That means you probably don’t have a concussion.”

The boy gave him a crooked smile, “Well that’s good news.”

“Good news for you, maybe. Too bad I’ll have to listen to you chatter the whole time I’m nursing you back to health, baby bird.”

“Being chatty is part of my charm.” Dick reasoned. He froze, his hand flying up to his face, searching for the latex of his mask. He squeaked in surprise, blue eyes widening, “where’s-“

“Relax, kid, I’m not gonna tell anyone who you are,” Jason sighed, “I’ve kept Bruce’s secret this long, you’re fine.”

Robin stared up at Jason with a mix of confusion and awe on his face, “you…you already know?”

He nodded, “used to be in your uniform.”

Jason didn’t even have to look at Dick to know what emotions were going through his eyes. Bewilderment, amazement, betrayal, upset, distrust…

“What are you talking about?” his voice was shaking a little, slightly suspicious. Jason shook his head.

“Not now, kid, you’re gonna bleed all over me if I don’t go grab another rag for your head.”

Dick frowned a bit, but nodded, wincing a little as Jason lifted him off his lap and gently placed his injured head back on the couch cushion.

Jason mentally kicked himself. Why had he told the kid? No reason for him to get involved, none at all.

He supposed he just couldn’t believe that Bruce had actually taken in another Robin, after what happened to him…he clenched his teeth, hands shaking in anger. It had almost happened again, another kid had almost died under Bruce’s watch, and where was the big bad Bat himself?

Nowhere to be found.

Would Bruce have killed the people who hurt Dickie, even if they’d succeeded in killing the little bird?

Not a chance. And more people would have died, because Bruce couldn’t cross that line. Not even for his son. Not even after he made that mistake once before.

Jason sighed, running a hand through his hair and taking a deep breath, trying to cool off. He needed a smoke. But there was a fifteen year old kid bleeding all over his couch.

~~~

Dick’s vision was a little hazy by the time Jason got back into the living room, but he really, really wanted to know what the older man had been talking about.

“Were you really Robin before me?” he asked, cursing the slight tremor in his voice. He heard Jason curse under his breath, and guessed that he’d been hoping Dick would forget about that conversation by the time he got back.

“Yeah. But we’ll talk about this later, y’know, when you’re not bleeding all over my couch.”

The boy sighed, but nodded, “yeah, okay. I’m holding you to that, though.”

Jason chuckled softly, nodding in agreement and pressing the fresh, cold rag to Dick’s head. The boy hissed in pain, trying to jerk away from the touch, but Jason held him fast, mumbling something about it being the only way to be sure he could be sure it was covered until Dick could tell him what hurt.

My head, Dick wanted to say, my head hurts, duh, but he couldn’t. The edges of his vision were beginning to blur, his mind swimming, and Jason’s voice was muffled by the blood rushing in his ears. He still had so many questions…

“Get some sleep, kid,” he could barely make out the man speaking, “we’ll talk in the morning, if Daddy Bats hasn’t come to get you by then.”

Dick could only close his eyes and let himself be swallowed by darkness.


	2. In Which Bruce Breaks A Window

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wowowowowow I'm so sorry for how late this is, I'm honestly going to try to start updating this fic weekly, because I have four days off of school and work a week, so now I'll have plenty of time to work on it. ;n;
> 
> Tumblr user silencingthedrums helped me with Bruce's parts, because Bruce is a bitch to write.

He’d busted the window. Jason had saved his fucking sidekick, and the goddamn Batman had busted in through his kitchen window.

Jason blinked at the floor, staring in disbelief at the pile of shattered glass on the tile. He hadn’t even changed out of his pajamas yet, and _fucking_ Batman was standing in his kitchen. He was so not ready to deal with this. He needed coffee first. Like, three fucking pots of coffee. And a Red Bull. And maybe another pot of coffee after that.

He squinted, a scowl on his face as he set Dickie’s plate of toast on the counter. Fucking Christ. He was not in the mood for this shit.

Dick, meanwhile, was trying to sit up. His head was finally stitched and wrapped in a thick layer of bandages, but the boy was still a bit woozy, and Jason sighed, muttering to himself as he started over to the couch.

“Quit trying to strain yourself, kid,” he grumbled, “you’re just gonna make it worse.”

“…what is going on here?” Bruce growled. Jason scoffed, shaking his head.

“Are you seriously trying to intimidate me with your Batman voice? Really?”

“…Tell me what’s going on. One of you.”

The boy on the couch bit his lip, looking up at Bruce, “I got separated from the team on the mission. There was some kind of…explosion, and I got thrown through a window. It was pretty bad.” He looked up at Jason with adoration in his eyes, smiling sweetly, “But…Jason saved me.”

Bruce’s brow furrowed. Jason knew that look – that look meant that Bruce didn’t like the puppy dog look that Dick was giving him. Jason was choosing to ignore it, but it didn’t seem like Bruce was going to let it go that easily.

Oh well. He’d deal with that later. Right now, he’d rather deal with the fact that Bruce broke his fucking window.

“What the _actual_ fuck, Bruce?!” he pointed at the window, “I gotta pay for that, you know!”

The Batman’s eyes narrowed, “…I’ll send someone to fix it in the morning.”

“Like _hell_ you will,” he snarled, “I don’t want your help. I want you to stop breaking my shit.”

Dick looked between the men, blinking slowly and pushing against the hand Jason held on his chest, “lemme up,” he mumbled, drawing Bruce’s disapproving gaze to him.

“Robin,” he barked, and, ever the good little soldier, Dickie sat up straight, his eyes wide, “we’re going home. Where’s your uniform?”

The boy looked up, blinking his baby blues at Jason, who groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Trust me, B,” Jason crossed his arms over his chest, “you don’t want that costume back. It’s a wreck.”

Bruce scowled, walking over to the couch, looking very large and bulky and out of place in Jason’s small apartment. The man crouched in front of Dick, pulling off his gauntlet and putting a hand on the boy’s forehead.

“No fever,” he muttered to himself. He sat back a bit, giving Dick a quick once-over, “How badly were you hurt?”

“Jason said I don’t have a concussion.”

“Hmm.”

“There’re stitches in my leg and the side of my head.”

“…we’ll have Alfred check you when we get home,” he murmured, lifting Dickie into his arms, dwarfing the already tiny boy with his large and menacing form, “for now…thank you, Jason.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

Dick gave Jay a small, hopeful smile, “I’ll see you later?”

Bruce’s frown deepened.

Jason had a feeling that it would be a cold day in hell before B let Dickie anywhere near him.

“Sure, Dickiebird.”

* * *

“Come _on,_ B!”

“No.”

“Bruce, I’m _fine_!”

“No.”

“Wally’s been askin’ about me! And Supey’s worried! Just let me go on the scouting mission with them, _please_?”

“ _No_ , Dick.”

“Bruce, _come on,_ it’s been, like, a month and a half! My stitches are out and I’m _fine_!” he took Bruce’s arm, giving the man a desperate face, “ _please_!”

Batman looked down at the boy for a moment, his brow furrowed, before sighing, shaking his head, and pulling the cowl up over his head, “Get in the car.”

“ _Yes!”_ Dick threw his fist up, grinning from ear to ear as he raced across the cave, hopping into the passenger seat of the batmobile and bouncing excitedly on the leather, “You’re the _best_ , B!”

“Hmm.”

“Really, I mean it!” he gushed, grabbing his sunglasses from one of the hidden compartments to hide his eyes, “The _best_!”

“Alright, Dickie,” Bruce couldn’t hide the little hint of a smile, “that’s enough.”

Dick reached over, playfully punching Bruce’s arm, continuing to squirm and bounce the entire way to Mt. Justice.

Bruce sighed. It was true, it had been a long time since he’d let Robin leave the house. The spike of fear that he’d felt when the boy hadn’t come home from the team’s last mission hadn’t left the back of Bruce’s mind since it happened. Though he knew it was foolish, he’d let himself believe that Dickie would give up being Robin after this. Wishful thinking, he knew. He couldn’t keep the boy out of the Robin suit any better than he could keep himself out of the Bat suit.

He hoped he was doing the right thing.

Batman’s gloved hand rested on Dickie’s tiny shoulder as they stepped into the zeta tube. As long as his boy was safe, that was all that mattered.

Safe, and away from Jason’s influence.

Bruce’s head snapped up as Kid Flash’s voice echoed across the cave. Before he could blink, Robin was on the floor with Wally atop him, hugging the redhead and laughing hysterically.

“ _Rob!_ ” Wally screeched, “You’ve been gone for _years_!”

“Years?” Dick laughed, squirming, “it’s been less than two months, dude, chill!”

 “Too long.”

As the boys laughed and hugged, the rest of the team gravitated toward them. Conner’s brow was furrowed as he reached down, scooping Robin up from under the speedster and setting him down gently on his feet.

“Careful with Robin,” he mumbled, “you could hurt him.”

Bruce couldn’t help but smile a bit as Robin blushed and swatted playfully at Conner’s hands. It was irritating for the smaller boy, true, but it was nice to know that Dick had his very own Kryptonian looking out for him. Comforting.

He cleared his throat, getting the teenagers’ attention and calling up the holographic screens, “You have a mission today.”

“ _Yes!_ ” Dick enthused, bouncing on his toes. He was _so_ eager to get back out in the field. Even if it was just for a scouting mission, he was going to enjoy this. Bruce fought to keep a straight face as he explained the mission.

“Various warehouses filled with Cobra’s new experimental venom have been raided recently. Almost every warehouse that’s been hit has been completely destroyed, but our investigations have brought to light that samples of each variation of venom have been stolen.” Batman looked over the team, “Your mission is simple. We’ve worked out a pattern, and we have two possible next targets. You’ll split into two teams, and each team will take one warehouse. This mission is _covert_. You’re to observe, then call me when your target is spotted. Understood?” he gave Robin and Kid Flash a pointed look. The two boys nodded, though they both looked a bit disgruntled about it.

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” he nodded curtly, shutting the screen off, “stay out of sight. We haven’t been able to figure out exactly who is behind this, but since the venom was brought to light by your discoveries and detective work, we’ve decided to let you take the first crack at this. Don’t make us regret it.”

As Bruce turned to leave, he couldn’t help but smile. Dick was growing up. It filled him with pride to see the boy standing at attention, to see him learning responsibility and how to work with his friends to accomplish so much.

 

He only hoped that Dickie’s influences would remain as good as they had been.

* * *

 

“Alpha to Beta, anything yet?”

“Negative, Robin. We’ll report as soon as we see anything.”

Dick was crouched in the shadows, a pair of night-vision binoculars held up to his eyes. He squinted through them at the building they were watching, chewing on his lower lip. They’d been out here for almost two hours, not moving from the darkness, keeping tabs on the warehouse. Wally, Artemis, and Dick were scouting this building, while Conner, M’gann, and Kaldur took the other, and both groups of teenagers were growing restless.

“This is _so_ boring,” Wally groaned into the mindlink, and Dick scoffed, because he could practically _see_ the speedster rolling around on the ground from the tone in his voice.

“Relax, KF, I know you’re not good at being patient, but-“

“But not everything happens as fast as your mouth works, Baywatch,” Artemis cut in with a smirk, “So shut up.”

“You shut up!” Wally squawked indignantly. Dick sighed.

“ _Both_ of you, shut up. I see something.”

The two went silent, and Robin scooted a little closer to the building from his hiding spot as the dark form of a man darted inside. They should call Batman. They should _really_ call Batman.

But Dick really wanted to investigate.

“I’m gonna go in. Stealth mode. You guys stay back.”

“Uh, like hell.” Artemis snorted, “we’ll all go in. We’re in different corners, we’ll each cover an entrance.”

“Sounds good to me!” Wally chimed. Robin glanced between his teammate’s hiding places, squinting, before he sighed.

“Alright. Move in on my signal, okay?”

“Still don’t think you’re the leader, dude.”

“KF, not _now_.”

He edged closer, silently slinking between piles of scrap metal, keeping himself hidden. When he was close enough for the other two to see him, he signaled with his hand, watching as the two darted out toward the other doors. Briefly, he wondered if he should have insisted they stay behind. What if things got too dangerous?

Dick shook his head. Focus. Couldn’t worry about Wally and Arty now. Besides, they could handle themselves.

The boy crept up to the door, peering inside through the space that the intruder had left when he’d jimmied it open. Through the darkness, he could see the man, crouched over a wooden crate, lifting a small vile from it and holding it up to inspect it. Beside him, a duffle bag and a shiny red helmet rested on the floor.

Dick froze.

Those gloves.

That jacket.

That helmet.

“…Jason?!”


End file.
